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How to find out if your iso is or isn't corrupt by md5 checking

open hashcalc
uncheck all the checkboxes except md5
change data format to file
in the data box at the right hand side is a button with 3 dots in click it now navigate to where you downloaded your .iso or .zip and select it and click open

now press calculate
after a few seconds (or more depending on your computer speed) there will be a string next to the md5

now compare that to the md5 hash on the download page

if they are the same then your iso or zip is ok, if not the you need to download it again

Re: How to find out if your iso is or isn't corrupt by md5 checking

Thanks for that addition.

I should also add that you should check with the MD5's listed on the download page as they will always be updated to the correct ones for the file, whereas this page will become outdated and will not always have the correct MD5

Re: How to find out if your iso is or isn't corrupt by md5 checking

balding_parrot, the SlavaSoft HashCalc site seems to have been shut down. I searched for any alternate or mirror download sites, but all 12 I found linked directly to the main site's download.

I wanted to recommend a great alternative that I've used for a while called HashTab. It integrates into the windows shell and adds a new "File Hashes" tab to every files' Properties window.

You can customize which hashes it will generate, and it supports Adler32, CRC32, HAVAL, MD2, MD4, MD5, RIPEMD-128, RIPEMD-256, RIPEMD-320, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, Tiger, and Whirlpool hashing. It's pretty quick, and it took about 10 seconds to generate all the hashes for the BackTrack ISO.

Re: How to find out if your iso is or isn't corrupt by md5 checking

Hi balding_parrot, I would just add that md5sum also work on OS X, just open Terminal, type md5sum and drag & drop the file to the terminal windows.

Watch out for that as you may lose the md5sum in later development versions (other "staple" programs have gone missing from .5 to .6).

A more unix-y correct solution is actually: openssl md5 bt4-final.iso

Which will work more across the board than the other. And will also let you do: openssl sha1 bt4-final.iso to verify the second hash (should the team ever put them both up to ensure nobody is collisioning your downloads )

Still not underestimating the power...

There is no such thing as bad information - There is truth in the data, so you sift it all, even the crap stuff.